The Masada
assault rifle was developed by Magpul Industries, a US company, as a
private venture. Initially this new weapon was intended to enhance
the features of the
M16 rifle. It is
worth mentioning that in 2006 a project based on the M16 has been
abandoned and Magpul Industries restarted it from scratch.
Prototypes were revealed in 2007. The new rifle was named after the
Siege of Masada. In 2008 its production was taken over by
Bushmaster.

It is a gas
operated, selective fire weapon with a modular design. The Magpul Masada has
several features of other recent designs, such as the M16 and
FN SCAR.
This multi-caliber weapon is available chambered in 5.56 x 45 mm
standard NATO ammunition or 7.62 x 39 mm Soviet ammunition. It
allows to fire the enemy ammunition with the alternate barrel and
lower receiver, what is very important for operations behind the
enemy lines. This weapon is also available with three barrel
lengths. It can be easily converted from a standard assault rifle
into carbine or dedicated marksman rifle without any tools. It can
also be configured for handguard, stock type and trigger unit setup.
The key idea of the Masada's modular system, that it will provide a
wide variety of configurations within the matter of minutes in field
conditions. All parts are easily stripped for cleaning.

The Masada
has ambidextrous controls. An ambidextrous safety / fire mode
selector is located over the pistol grip. A charging handle can be
installed on either side of the receiver and do not reciprocates,
when the weapon is fired. Magazine release button is also
ambidextrous. Spent case ejection port is located on the right side
of the receiver, however it has case deflector, which propels the
cases away from left-handed shoters.

This assault
rifle is fed from detachable 30-round magazines. It accepts the M16
and other NATO magazines. The Masada is also compatible with high
capacity drum magazines. When chambered for 7.62-mm ammunition the
Magpul Masada is compatible with the standard
AK-47 magazines.

This weapon
has a full-length Picatinny-type rail system for mounting optics. It
can be fitted with detachable iron sights or various optics or night
vision sights.

The Magpul
Masada has a side-folding removable modular stock, which is
adjustable for length and has adjustable cheek. This rifle can be
fired with a folded stock. There are two more types of buttstocks,
used on the Masada. These are carbine and marksman rifle stocks.

This assault
rifle is available with a modular handguard with rails, which
accepts a variety of add-on accessories, such as vertical grips,
laser pointers, tactical flashlights and so on. There is provision
to mount a 40-mm underbarrel grenade launcher. The Magpul Masada is
also compatible with a sound suppressor.

Variants

Bushmaster
ACR is an updated version of the Magpul Masada. In 2008 Bushmaster
took over production, development and sales of the Masada assault
rifle.
Bushmaster made some design changes to this weapon to meet the
emerging requirements of the US Military. The Masada name was
dropped from the product and the weapon became known as the
Bushmaster ACR. The official name of this
rifle for military use is the Remington ACR.